Introducing people to Jesus

When you go somewhere for and event, a party, dinner or something else like that you probably do something without even realising it. You introduce people. Saying things like: “Can I introduce you to ….” Or, “This is …” or even, “Meet ….” The point I am making is that it is a perfectly natural thing to do. Isn’t that how we should be when it comes to letting people know about the Saviour of the world?

I was at a recent outreach with the School of World Evangelism. During a break for lunch an African lady that was living in Kent passionately shared about how we as Christians should introduce people to Jesus. The point being that God could use the person that we introduce mightily, just as He did with the Apostle Peter who led 3000 to Christ with his first sermon.

“Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ).  And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter)” John 1: 40-42

Peter was introduced to Jesus by his brother Andrew who is mentioned only a few times in the New Testament. The point to note is that on the occasions we do find him, he is actually doing what Jesus commanded us to do. That is introducing other people to the Lord Jesus Christ.

First of all he introduced his brother Peter to the Lord in the scripture above; then he introduced the boy who had the five loaves and two fishes:

“Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” John 6: 8-9

Then finally, along with Phillip he introduced the Greeks to the Jesus. I believe that there is no more important work in the world than introducing other people to Jesus.

“Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus” John 12: 20-22

Key Point: We may just be ordinary people; like Andrew however Jesus wants us to introduce people to Him

We may well be very ordinary people, just like Andrew, but the Lord desires to use us to bring others to meet Him. We know that Andrew is not really viewed in the same way as Paul or his own brother Peter and there are no records in scripture that he ever preached a sermon. But wow! He introduced Peter to Christ.  As a result of that introduction Peter preached many sermons.  Some could argue that there would have been no sermons from him had it not been for the faithful, personal soul-winning heart of Andrew. 

Looking at the scripture we can see that Andrew is a very good illustration of how we should be as Christian witnesses for Christ because we read that “The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother…”

There are three points that stand out here:

The word “first”: There is probably no doubt that Andrew won many others to the Lord after he himself came to Christ, the first thought he had was of his own brother.

It is interesting to note that immediately he found Christ he became concerned that others should find Him. When we are born again the impulse to win someone else is born within us. We should nurture this and recognise that witnessing is a matter of very great importance. 

The word “find”: We have no idea of how far Andrew needed to search for Peter, but we do know that those whom the Lord would have us “find” are “lost”, and for this reason they need to be “found”. As believers who have been transformed by Jesus, we should be doing the finding.

“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbours together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent” Luke 15: 4-7

The simple fact that cannot be ignored is that all the people around us who are without Christ are lost? There is no way to receive forgiveness and eternal life without accepting Jesus as Lord. Once this fact is in our hearts we should all feel that the most important thing is to introduce them to the only One who can actually save them from a lost eternity. If there is any doubt, it is made as clear as crystal in the following scripture.

“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” Acts 4: 12

Then, Andrew first found “his brother”: It’s important to note that the scripture says “his brother” and not someone else’s!  The truth sometimes is that it can often be much easier to speak to someone else’s brother, but we must be concerned for those who need salvation in our own families that don’t know Jesus. 

Do you have loved ones who are not Christians? Are you doing anything to introduce them to the Lord Jesus?